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“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”

We can credit Jack Torrence, Jack Nicholson’s character in the 1980 film The Shining for popularizing this proverb that dates as far back as the mid-1600s.

Americans continue to work more hours than their counterparts in other countries and as we are in the midst of a (finally!) government-acknowledged recession, it does not appear that in the near future that employers will be encouraging more vacation time, personal days, or working in a little “downtime” into our daily work schedule.

No worries some of us say!  Our lives are replete with a variety of great technological tools, by way of the internet, that allow us to never leave our desk to be entertained or “play.”  Social websites such as Facebook or MySpace offer an almost endless selection of “applications” for distraction from our stressful workday.  Yahoo! Games continues to offer games-arcade games, card games, board games, puzzle games…the list goes on and on.   Video sharing sites such as YouTube continue to bring us many laughs at the office with their quirky or sometimes scandulous videos.

Where am I going with this?  What do you do when these entertainment or play options are no longer allowed in the workplace?  I don’t see Mark from accounting carrying a Yahtzee game to the lunchroom for a quick roll of the dice or Marie challenging you to a game of paper football at her desk.

• What to you do to “relieve stress” during your workday via the internet?
• Do you only access these sites at work or at home as well?
• What is your opinion as to how this effects your productivity?

Tags: Fun, Games, Google, News, Social Networking, Technology, Websites by JD - No Comments »

This concept of “link journalism” is interesting, like a more succinct version of blogging or Twitter. Link journalism is basically what Drudge does at the Drudge Report, and it’s proving a popular and powerful medium. Basically, it’s just watching the news and reporting what’s important or interesting by linking.

Sort of puts a new slant on that old “media doesn’t tell you what to think, just what to think about” tack. Of course, you’d have to trust the link source, not in the presumably mechanized, unbiased way Google collects links for Google News, but in an I-trust-his-bias type of way.

Drudge has gotten so powerful that he’s being credited with blowing Prince Harry’s cover in Afghanistan, even though the original stories were published in Australia and Germany and nobody noticed. They noticed when Drudge pointed them out, though. So that’s a credit.

In a way, Craigslist started as a kind of link journalism, just succinctly pointing to what’s going on. He sent out a list of hot spots via email in the beginning. Now, it’s a full blown classifieds business.

Tags: Blogging, Business, News, Social Networking, Technology by JasonLeeMiller - 2 Comments »

Guest post by Fiar from Humor Blogging

What does it take to get noticed by a more influential blogger? It’s something we all strive to do, but we often feel as if we need to know a secret handshake for entry into an exclusive club.

Mariam from Money Relations asked a question that exemplifies this sentiment:

I have a question:
A lot has been made about the importance of having powerful network friends. What is your view on this? Obviously, we want to get connected to the right people, but how do you network with people beyond your blog social status?

I always get intimidated as I don’t have anything to offer to the big blogs. What I’ve been comfortable with is networking within my own blog peer group and I find that we are of great support to each other.

How do I break through this social barrier?

Mariam isn’t the only one with this view of being in a different sphere from more influential bloggers. It’s pretty much everyone who has this concern, and that’s why her comment on the previous Networking the Right Way post provoked me to respond in depth.

What is the difference between your site and a more successful one? I believe that the difference is not one of quality. It’s a difference in Networking. The best way to advance your blog’s “social status” is to raise the awareness of it’s existence. [Read more →]

Tags: Blogging, Social Networking by Ritu - 24 Comments »

With the rise of social media and social networking sites, it has become of utmost importance to get out there and participate in order to be known and heard. Reading blogs and online sites can boost your knowledge in terms of what’s out there, but sometimes traditional methods of gaining knowledge can be very valuable as well. I subscribe to a lot of magazines besides reading blogs and articles online which has cerainly helped me gather knowledge and information regarding new services and sites. I subscribe to a magazine called ” website magazine ” which has been a very valuable source of information for me in every aspect of my online life.

I recently got my hands on the November issue and it had a list of social sites which inspired me to compile them here in this post from the magazine and some from my favorites folder. So here it is, an exhaustive list of social sites for you to try your hands on and network and promote every aspect of your online life while meeting new people. And who said the list always has to be in increments of 10? We will end this one on 56. Enjoy! [Read more →]

Tags: Internet, Services, Social Networking by Ritu - 12 Comments »

As a blogger I find myself sucked in deep by DIGG and StumbleUpon and I am pretty sure you are too. I find myself voting and checking some cool articles and pages using these two services. They have become an ever so integral part of my online life. I had a chance to quick check the rankings of both Social Giants and I present to you a post that is purely supported by images as to which site is more popular among ” Web Socialites. ” Personally, I love both StumbleUpon and DIGG and this blog wouldn’t survive without either services.

First Round

Let Alexa Decide The First Round

Alexa Ranking For DIGG - 115
Alexa Ranking For StumbleUpon - 270

And the Winner is DIGG! [Read more →]

Tags: Social Networking by Ritu - 13 Comments »

You may have noticed most all media, technology, even household tasks are represented in “lists”. Top ten, bottom 10, best 50 or “to do”…lists.

ListBums is a community driven online multimedia platform where people can share information that combines text, photos and videos in an easy to read list format. Taking YouTube to the next level, ListBum users mix information on topics of interest, current events or breaking news stories and illustrate their points with embedded videos and pictures from all over the web. The user experience is both engaging and entertaining as lists are posted, shared, rated, added to and commented on by other ListBummers.

ListBum multimedia lists can be embedded onto your blog, website or favorite social networking site. Without redirecting viewers to listbums.com, readers can view content, add list items and rate lists directly from third party websites. [Read more →]

Tags: Services, Social Networking, Websites by Ritu - 10 Comments »